Another win for Odisha govt! Transgenders to participate in Independence Day parade

In a welcoming move, the Odisha government has made arrangements for the transgender community to participate in this year's Independence Day parade and has initiated the process to recruit them as prison warders.

"For the first time in the country, the Odisha government has allowed the transgenders to participate in the state level parade to be held at Mahatma Gandhi Marg on 15 August," General Secretary of TG Surakshya Trust Pratap Sahoo said.

The state government, he said, has communicated its decision to the Commissionerate of Police.

"A platoon comprising 30 transgenders have already started their rehearsal under the guidance of a trained teacher at Nayapally area," he said.

Meanwhile, in accordance with a Supreme Court directive on transgenders, the state government has decided to recruit them as jail warders following which the police have informed the Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSSC) for their recruitment.

"Transgenders will be doing duty in jails as warders. They will have to succeed in the qualifying examination with other candidates. A letter to this effect has been sent to the Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission to take necessary steps in this regard," ADG (Prisons) Manoranjan Patnaik said.

Clarifying about the inclusion of transgenders as a gender category in the recruitment of jail warders, Deputy Secretary of Home Department B B Mishra said in a letter to ADG-cum-IG of Prisons and Department of Correctional Service (DCS) that their physical standards should be kept at par with women candidates as per the observation of the Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD).